Directions and Positions — On the Left, At the Top

Practice 'the' with directions and positional phrases: on the left, on the right, at the top, at the bottom, at the end, in the middle.

Directions and Positions: Why 'The' Is Always Required

English direction and position phrases — on the left, on the right, at the top, at the bottom, in the middle, at the end, at the beginning — consistently require the definite article. This is a fixed grammatical convention: the position is treated as uniquely identifiable within a given space. Learner data shows that omitting 'the' in these phrases ('turn on left', 'at top of the page') is a high-frequency error at B1 level.

Core Direction and Position Phrases

The bank is on the left, next to the post office.
The exit is on the right at the end of the corridor.
Look at the top of the page for instructions.
The bathroom is at the end of the corridor.
Your name is in the middle of the list.

Common Mistakes

✗ Turn on — left at the traffic lights. → ✓ Turn on the left at the traffic lights.
✗ The answer is at — bottom of the page. → ✓ The answer is at the bottom of the page.
✗ Write your name at — top. → ✓ Write your name at the top.